The Element of Defiance
by gamerjames27
Summary: Thrown into the Bleach-verse without many of his memories, Axel decides it's his turn to finally have some fun with the story he'd come to admire since childhood, but he's not gonna lie down and let the plot pass him by. full summary inside. written by rubymilk on fiverr.
1. Chapter 1

Summary

Thrown into the Bleach-verse without many of his memories, Axel decides it's his turn to finally have some fun with the story he'd come to admire since childhood, but he's not gonna lie down and let the plot pass him by. After joining the Academy, Axel will come to realize his Zanpakutō spirit is another familiar face that he knows will give him one hell of a ride as he journeys through the Bleach timeline.

written by rubymilk

if this receives 100 favorites or followers will commission a new chapter.

The piercing sunlight shines against the face of an unconscious young boy. His face shifts as he moves his hand to cover his eyes, groaning at the obnoxious light interrupting his rest.

"God, not now. Mom, five more minutes, please," mutters the red-headed boy. He rolls over to continue his sleep when he realizes he's not on a very soft bed, or a bed at all for the matter. He pats the ground, confusion on his face as he slowly opens his eyes and realizes he wasn't just imagining that his bed felt kind of...dusty.

"Hmm, either this is a new kind of mattress I'm unaware about, or I'm sleeping on straight-up dirt," the boy mutters as he sits up, looking around to observe his surroundings. He noticed the area he was in resembled a grassy field and he started to wonder if he'd always lived in the middle of nowhere.

"I'm pretty sure Mom and Dad aren't really the kind to pull a prank where they drop me off in the middle of some random field. Maybe this is some kind of Febreze commercial or something? Oh, but I'm not really blindfolded and I don't smell much except dirt and some grass, so..."

The young man stood up and dusted off his long black cloak and black jeans, then adjusting his biker gloves on his hands as he peeked his head over a bunch of shrubberies looking for a hidden camera crew, hoping this was all some elaborate joke and someone would jump out and scream "Gotcha!"

The more he searched, the less hope he had and by the time he'd checked almost all of the surrounding area the boy was beginning to get a bit worried. He vaguely remembers his parents teaching him about the dreaded Stranger Danger™ and he hoped he hadn't become a victim of some twisted kidnapper.

"How the fuck would that even happen? I definitely don't remember being bribed with candy to get into some scary white van by some creepster," he mumbled. The boy decided that standing there and freaking out certainly wasn't going to do him any favors, so he took in a deep breath and headed into the mysterious woods surrounding him, deeply hoping he'd find some civilization soon. While he wasn't exactly the overly cautious type, he had seen a startling amount of murder mysteries lately and being in this almost horror movie-like situation was beginning to grate at his nerves and sanity.

After a few minutes of walking, the young man notices a couple of lights flickering in the distance and he heaved a sigh of relief. He quickens his pace, glad to finally see some hints of civilization, but when he stumbles into the town he's rendered speechless. The town resembled something from way back in the day compared to the home he used to remember, the townsfolk strolling along as they walked alongside quaint little wooden shacks. The city looked like something straight out of one of the boy's history textbooks and, at this point, he was beginning to think he must have consumed some kind of mysterious drug and this was all just one helluva trip.

An old man resting on his porch notices Axel dumbfounded face and snickers to himself before beckoning the boy over.

"You there!"

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Get over here, you've got a stupid look on your face, so I'm guessing you're in need of a bit of enlightenment."

The red-headed lad narrows his eyes in response to the old man's snark, but approaches him nonetheless. After all, he really did need to know what the hell was going on. He sits down next to the old man and looks at him expectantly, waiting for the guy to give him some answers.

"First things first, what do you remember?"

"What?"

"Are you deaf, boy? I said, what do you remember? Give me your whole life story, or at least as much of it as you can."

"I don't see how me telling you about myself is supposed to help me. Wait, are you trying to steal my identity or something? Let me guess, you're gonna ask for my Social Security Number and the three wacky numbers on the back of my credit card next, right?"

"What? Son, I'm about to just leave you to figure this all out for yourself. Cut the smartass shit and just answer my question," the old man says gruffly, his patience clearly wearing thin. The young man scrutinized the geezer's face for any hint of nefarious intent and he came up with nothing. He sighed before just deciding it would be in his best interest to start retelling everything from the day he was born.

"Okay, fine. The name's Axel. I've got a mom and a dad, no siblings. People tell me that being an only child is probably what made me such a shithead."

The old man looked at the teen with an unamused stare, so the boy decided to just keep going about his story.

"My mom and dad are pretty cool. Dad's kind of a pushover, but Mom makes up for it by being the most cheeky woman you'll ever meet. There was this one time that…"

Axel's brows furrowed as he realized he didn't really know what he was talking about. There was this one time that what? Axel shook his head and decided to keep going on with his story, partly to try and forget that he apparently couldn't remember much of his parents and partly so that the old man didn't patronize him anymore.

"Anyway, I'm 16 and I've lived in Japan all my life. I'm in high school and my best bud's name is… E? Eijirou? Eiji? Eiichi?"

Axel tried to remember his best friend's name, but he was coming up with nothing. He was starting to get flustered. How the hell couldn't he remember his best friend's name? He knew he and his friend would always get into trouble around the neighborhood for playing pranks and they'd even been friends since birth, but somehow he couldn't remember his name.

'I don't understand, what is wrong with me? I'm trying to think, but everything is so blurry and jumbled, I just… Honestly, come to think of it, what do my parents even look like? My friend? The hell?'

Axel looked to the old man for comfort, but he was met with a confused and slightly concerned expression. The old man cocked his head and scrutinized Axel's panicked face, unsure of what to say.

"If I'm being honest, I've never met someone like you before, boy. Some confusion and a bit of not remembering your past life isn't completely uncommon, but you barely seem to remember anything at all," says the old man, his voice tinged with slight fascination and confusion.

"Wait, did you say past life What do you mean past life? Do I get another one or something?"

While Axel was mostly joking when he said that, he quickly noticed the man just simply nodded his head.

"You betcha."

"What? I'm sorry, let me try again. WHAT?!"

The old man recoiled and plugged his ears with his fingers, narrowing his eyes at the loud boy.

"Pipe down, you're being too loud. I said what I said, you get another life. Not yet though."

Axel was starting to wonder if he'd picked some local crack addict to give him answers on his confusing situation, but as he looked around the town, he began to notice something. This place somehow looked… familiar.

"Hey, geezer, where am I?"

"Geezer? That's what you call the man taking precious time out of HIS day to help you? You really are a little shit," muttered the old man, nearly fed up with Axel's antics.

"Yeah, yeah, can you just answer my question, sir?"

"You're in Soul Society, specifically Inuzuri of the Rukon District."

Axel heard a very distinct record scratch echo throughout his mind as the man uttered those words.

"I'm sorry, did you say Soul Society?"

"Look, kid, I'm really gonna need you to keep up a bit better than this."

Axel had pretty much tuned the old man out, his mind racing with thoughts on what he'd just heard.

'Okay. I'm in the Soul Society. As in Bleach. As in the fictional series Bleach. FUCK!'

Axel began to feel his legs quake as his thoughts were overwhelmed with the reality of his situation. He noticed the old man begins to look at him with concern once more, so Axel slowed his breathing to calm his shaking and think more rationally about his completely irrational situation.

'Okay, so this is real, I'm in Bleach. Where am I in the timeline? Have I missed everything important? Dear God, I hope not, that would be so LAME. How am I gonna ask this guy what part of the series I'm in without sounding like a lunatic? Hold on, the fact that I can remember Bleach more than my own family kinda...wow, I don't know if that's sad on my part or not.'

"Earth to dumbass, do you read me?"

Axel snapped out of his thoughts as the old man questioned him with annoyance, clearly pissed that Axel kept on spacing while they were having what was a poor attempt of a conversation.

"Yeah, I read you. Uhm, so uhm, have there been any incidents, lately?"

"Incidents? The hell is that supposed to mean?"

'Okay, so I'm assuming if Yhwach and the Soul King had been killed, that would be pretty big news around here. So, that must mean I'm not past the end of the manga, or even close to the end of it. What's another incident this guy might even know about? All I've really gotten from talking to him is I'm somewhere in the timeline of Bleach that isn't the end. I'm not sure if he'd know anything about the Hollowfication incident, so what the hell do I ask him now?'

"I don't have all day, kid. Are you up to speed now? I've got better things to do than babysit," the man grumbled, regret for having spoken to Axel in the first place showing clear as day. Axel ran his fingers through his spiked red hair as he racked his brain for how he could place himself in the timeline when he had an idea. Not a very good one, but an idea nonetheless.

"I'll be out of your hair in a minute, sir, I've just got one more question."

"Well? Spit it out then."

"You ever heard of a girl named Rukia? Short, black spiky-ish hair, pale skin, an attitude for days? Maybe she was accompanied by a fellow redhead with spiky hair in a ponytail?"

The old man stroked his chin in thought before he let out a noise of realization.

"Yeah, I do remember some snot-nosed kids like that. They ran through here a few months ago after they stole some damn water," the man complained.

Axel sighed in relief. Finally, he'd managed to get some valuable information. The man's complaining basically confirmed to him that he was about 111 or so years before Ichigo's timeline when Rukia was still a little tyke. Basically, he's been placed right before a lot of shit went down. Axel quickly stands up and dusts off his clothes once more and turning to thank the old man.

"Thank you for all you've done, sir. I'll never forget you," Axel says melodramatically, wiping a single tear from his eye.

"Yeah, yeah, fuck off."

"Will do!"

And with that, Axel was off to wander about the city for some time and get a bit acquainted with the town. And, as he'd come to find out, the place was a dump.

'Geez, I don't remember the flashbacks to Rukia's past being this bad. Though, I guess some of the moments in Bleach I am a bit fuzzy on. I remember a good chunk of the beginning and practically all of the end, but I definitely do not remember everything that happened in between. For now, at least, my knowledge will get me by.'

Axel slumps against a wooden post and rests his face in his hands as he stares out at the townsfolk going about their dreary lives. Nobody really looked excited, happy, or anything even close to a positive emotion. Everything was just so...boring. As the wind blew through the town and the sun began to set, Axel wondered if this was where he wanted to stay. Axel grabs a stick and begins to doodle in the dirt as he contemplates his options.

"So," Axel mutters as he draws a terrible stick figure version of himself in the dirt, "I can stay here and be bored for the rest of my life. Maybe live, possibly not since a bunch of people are going to get massacred or not. I mean, not really sure how I ended up here in the first place, but if I stay in this world after I get murdered, according to Bleach I'd just be reborn again."

Axel stares at his stick figure version of himself before sighing and crossing it out.

"No way am I just being some kind of mindless sheep that goes about my life and then probably gets killed. With this opportunity that'd be a hell of a waste. Besides, if memory serves and I become a Shinigami or something, I'll just die and be reborn anyway. Kind of a morbid thought to just dismiss death like that, but it's true."

Axel draws another terrible rendition of himself in the dirt, but this time with a sword and some attempt at putting Shinigami robes on him.

"If I do this, I get to be strong and protect people, maybe even stop a few deaths. I could meet the characters I've read countless books about and see them up close and personal. I see this as an absolute win," Axel muses to himself as he draws a circle around his Shinigami stick figure. He stands up and smiles down at his work of art before turning on his heels and heading back towards the woods, curious to see if some of his Bleach knowledge would help him.

Once Axel arrived back in the woods, he heaved a sigh as he readied himself to test his skills. From what he remembered, Rukia and Renji demonstrated some potential at an early age. The two had been capable of unnatural speed and impressive strength from childhood without any particular training, so Axel was left to wonder how he would fair with everything he knew about Shinigami, Reiryoku, the energy within them that gave them power, and Reiatsu, the physical exertion of Reiryoku.

"Okay, if I remember correctly, there's a bunch of stuff I could do to see what my talents are. I'm hoping I've got enough Reiryoku to do what I'm aiming for, otherwise I'm screwed," Axel says as he stretches his limbs and cracks any stiff joints.  
"I can try my hand at those binding spells or the offensive ones. What were they again? Bakudō and Hadō? Damn, I really should have refreshed on my Bleach knowledge before coming here," Axel grumbled as he focused his gaze on a tree.

"Target acquired."

Axel stared at the tree before inhaling deeply and exhaling deeply, focusing on the energy within himself and trying to channel his Reiryoku into Reiatsu.

'A good spell to use right now would probably be a simple offensive spell. There was one from the series that a lot of people used, the fire one. I believe it was called...Shakkahō? I'll try it with the incantation first.'

"Ye lord! Mask of blood uhhhm...flesh, all creation, and uh. The, well, the flutter of wings, you who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandora, the sea barrier surges, march on to the north!"

Axel cringed at his poor attempt at an incantation. Obviously, nothing came of his spell and he was left with a bit of a bruised ego. He spends a good hour trying to jog his memory on the spell before he is finally able to remember it. Confident, Axel positions himself in front of his tree target and sticks his hand out, ready to recite his incantation.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"

Axel feels his hands heat up a bright ball of red light encases his palms. His emerald eyes are nearly blinded by the bright light as the beam of fire shoots from his palms into the tree stump, causing a rather loud explosion and sending his targeted tree and a few surrounding ones crashing into the ground. The boy stands in the forest, stunned at what he'd just done and a bit surprised he hadn't just started a forest fire.

"Holy shit."

'I just blew up a bunch of trees. With fire. That came from my hands.'

"This… is UNREAL!"

Axel's voice echoes throughout the forest, his voice overwhelmed with his utter amazement at actually being able to use Reiatsu. The boy squeezes his fists tight and has to suppress another cheer, realizing he'd really already caused enough of a disturbance and having some concerned civilian Souls approach him and ask what the fuck was wrong with him was not on his list of things to do.

"Okay, so I can definitely do Hadō. Even though that was a pretty basic incantation I'm sure I'll learn more once I head to Shindō Academy, or do people here call it Shinigami Academy? Whatever, I'd like to try Bakudō but I'm pretty sure it'd be better to practice binding spells on something that moves and I can actually bind and not just a bunch of trees," Axel mutters to himself as he continues to think on what else he could do before he heads to the academy.

"Well, since I'm not gonna practice Bakudō spells right now, I guess I'll just try to do a bunch of Hadō spells to prepare for my time at the academy. I'm just a liitttlllee worried once I get there they'll think I'm some kind of wack-ass spy or something if they find out I have so much knowledge about Hadō without ever having been to the academy so I guess I'll have to pretend not to know the spells…? But then the first time I do it I just miraculously manage to get it? They'll just think I'm a prodigy in that case, so it should be fine. I think so anyway, or geez, I fucking hope so" Axel mutters to himself as he resolves to train a bit before he heads to Shinigami Academy, trying his best to disregard that fact that he may be putting himself at risk.

Having yourself come into question as some sort of suspicious figure was definitely not something Axel wanted to do, especially when it came to the possibility of having the government of Soul Society having it out for you. While it wasn't necessarily forbidden to learn Kidō, there was the question of where you learned it from. It wasn't exactly likely that graduates of Shinigami Academy were lollygagging and teaching random pupils their ways, so it wasn't out of the question that's someone like Axel got his powers from a different source, possibly an illegal one or through someone who wasn't very well-liked by Soul Society, like an outlaw.

Axel shook his head to clear his mind of any negative thoughts and he resolved to now focus his attention on remembering as much Hadō as he possibly can.

"Hmm, I probably can't do the ones without an actual incantation right now, so let me try and remember the ones where the spell was actually said."

Axel rubbed his temples as he tried to jog his memory and remember some of the spells he remembered actually hearing in the anime. He claps his hands together as soon as he remembers another one, glad to finally be making some more progress after standing in the middle of some random forest and tapping his head for what felt like an obnoxious amount of time.

"Alright, so this one was called Sōkatsui. This is something mostly the Kuchiki clan does the most, but I'm gonna try my hand at it," Axel mumbled to himself as he positions himself in front of another unsuspecting group of trees he unfortunate enough to be his new target practice.  
"Okay, so this one is probably gonna be a bit harder. Shakkahō was used by pretty much everybody, but this one is a bit more niche, so I'll probably use a bit more Reiryoku to exert more Reiatsu to be able to do this one. Also, definitely gonna need to be able to even remember how the hell the incantation went."

Axel spent a good hour trying to remember the chant necessary to do Sōkatsui and it was pitch black outside by the time he remembered what the chant was. He sighed as he felt a bit of sleepiness cloud his mind, but he quickly shook it away, determined to get the hang of as much Hadō he could before the night was over. He aimed towards his group of target trees and began to chant.

"Ye lord! Mask of flesh and bone, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Truth and temperance, upon this sinless wall of dreams unleash but slightly the wrath of your claws."

Axel felt his palms get almost scaldingly hot as he felt blue flames that nearly remembered lightning surge from his palms, him having put a large amount of energy into the attack. The flames become big enough to nearly consume his body and shot out as a wave towards the trees, crashing into them and releasing a roar as they brought the trees to their knees, the forest grooming in response to the disturbance. Left behind from Axel's attack was dust and ash, the trees having been reduced to nothing due to his sheer power. While Axel was left in awe at his power, he did feel pretty bad for fucking up the forest with all of his training.

"I could really do some damage here, I should probably move further into the forest where there are fewer people and fewer things to set on fire, since I don't really want to be recognized as an arsonist," Axel said to himself as he headed further away from the village to find a more secluded place to test his abilities. He eventually came upon an opening in a field, with really only grass, some grass, and more grass went on for what seemed like miles. Axel sighs contentedly to himself as he settles in the middle of the clearing and racks his brain for more Hadō he could attempt and sighs as he realizes he's really only got about one more spell he can think of.

"I've been doing a lot of fire ones, so this will be a nice change of pace. It's Raikōhō, which thankfully I remember pretty well for no particular reason. Weird."

Axel lets his mind wander a bit as he considers how he's going to execute the attack.

"This one probably won't be as taxing on my body as Sōkatsui was, but from what I remember about seeing it in the anime the girl who was the leader of the Shiba clan jumped up and aimed the attack down which made it look very similar to a lightning bolt. Axel thought that scene was cool as hell, so he decides he'll try and replicate her attack.

"This'll be a good time to see how much my body has changed now that I'm basically just a soul. I should be more physically powerful, strength, jumping, agility, the works, so I guess I'll try and see what happens when I jump up."

Axel crouches down and furrows his brow as he concentrates on using as much power as he can to jump up. As soon as he feels he's built up enough energy, Axel shoots up from his crouching position, his eyes tightly shut as he soars into the air. Once he opens them, he looks around and realizes he's jumped far enough into the sky to be able to see the lights of the village he'd left.

"Wow," Axel whispers before he then harshly begins plummeting towards the ground. When he lands, the ground shakes underneath his weight and the force of his fall and he realizes he's left a bit of a crater in his wake.

"Gonna need to learn how to land this thing."

The boy chuckles to himself before he readies to jump into the sky once more, this time determined to succeed in doing Raikōhō. Axel takes a deep breath before crouching down and propelling himself into the air once more, positioning his arms pointing towards the ground as he reaches the peak of his jump and recites his attack's incantation.

"Sprinkled on the bones of the beast! Sharp tower, red crystal, steel ring. Move and become the wind, stop and become the calm. The sound of warring spears fills the empty castle!"

As Axel flexed his hands and felt the warmth and an almost cool feeling spread throughout his arm, a ball of lightning began to form in his palm. The ball began to grow larger and larger as Axel poured more of his Reiatsu into the attack. In his palms, Axel felt the lightning's energy gradually begin to shift and expand until he felt a point where every shot of energy in his palm suddenly increased in heat and almost felt as if the electrical currents in his hand reached a point of going faster than his mind could even comprehend.

The energy in his palm could no longer be continued and he felt the energy in his palms rumble like thunder as it shot out from his palm into the ground, a loud cracking noise being made as his lightning strike hit the ground, creating a huge crater and blowing dust all over the field due to the sheer amount of energy generated by his attack.

As Axel descended back towards the ground, he was left in awe at the destruction caused by his power. He lands in the crater he created and looks around it, surprised he almost felt as if he'd fallen into some unrealistically deep sinkhole. He could hardly register that he'd been the one to create it and it took him a moment to realize he was even capable of such a thing. He landed on the ground with a thud as he stared at the night sky, taking this time alone to absorb the fact that he was really in another world and had an obnoxious amount of ridiculous power. He wasn't entirely sure if he was going to be some sort of character that rivaled the power of people like Yhwach or something, but he's honestly beginning to wonder how strong he really is.

"All this fire and lightning, I feel like Iroh from Avatar, just less wise and likable," Axel mused to himself, his body-worn from all his training and him desperately trying to push back his more concerning questions on how exactly how he found his way into Bleach and what exactly he was going to do with his newfound powers, though it only took a moment of quiet due to him being unable to not come up with another one of his smartass quips for him to finally settle down with his thoughts.

'I don't really remember much about some people in my life, it feels kind of weird. Like… I don't really know much about myself. Like, I remember important stuff like how I and my friend used to mess around and how much I loved to goof around and mess with people.'

Axel feels the dirt shift a bit beneath him as the nighttime breeze blows around him, though he can't be particularly bothered to care as he remains deep in thought, something unusual for him to do.

'I think I remember not really being too interested in school when I was alive. My plan was to go to some kind of vocational school for carpentering, I think so anyway. I loved building things and fixing things around the house with my uncle and my grandfather, I always wanted to come home from school and just start tinkering with things around the house. I'm pretty sure I also liked boxing, my mom or my dad put me in lessons and I liked to do it to let off some steam and keep fit. My buddy took karate and even though boxing and karate are pretty different we'd train and even spar together just for the hell of it. It was...great really. Awesome, in fact, to just be perfectly content and happy with my life. Coming here or into any epic show I loved watching and reading about has always been my dream and it's dope as hell I'm doing it now, but I still feel just...Confused? Unsatisfied?'

"All of this shit I remember, yet I can't even begin to picture my own parents' faces or even my friend. I don't even know if I ever had dumbass crushes on girls way out of my league or little dumb shit I'd do from time to time, did I have any other friends aside from E-whatever his name was? What the fuck was my life, anyway?"

Axel feels his crack as he continues to stare at the sky, his throat feeling dry as he feels a bit cheated. All his life he'd dreamed of being in a situation like this, but he'd never imagined it would happen so soon and with no warning. He expected this to happen after he'd lived a long life and died while surrounded by the people he cared about, yet he just wakes up here. He feels frustrated as he can't even remember how he died or much of anything aside from pivotal details in his life, but he craved more.

"Maybe it's for the best that I don't remember. I mean, this way I can't really miss what I can barely even remember, right? But, somehow, I almost wish that I did. Yeah, it may hurt more, but at least I'd feel… better? I don't know, maybe I'm just whining over nothing, I guess," Axel says as he trails off, feeling the pit in his stomach only worsening. He sighs as he reluctantly tucks his thoughts into the back of his mind, deciding it was for the best to not dwell on things he had no power over, especially in this situation.

"I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow, so I guess this dirt hole will have to be my bed for the night."

Axel turned onto his side and chewed at his lip as he came to the realization that there was no going back for him, this world was where he belonged. Axel sighed to himself as he closes his eyes, his chest rising and falling with the rhythm of the wind, his mind then fading into unconsciousness as he dreamt of the vague memories he had.

Axel awakes the next morning still in his crater, his mind dazed and confused. The boy wipes the drool from his chin and cheek as he gets up, then stretching his back and cracking his stiffened joints. The boy crouches down once more and leaps into the air and out of his man-made crater. He brushes off his clothes and yawns as he looks around. He snaps out of his tired and dazed state as he realizes a bunch of people had gathered around his crater and were staring at him as if he was some kind of tourist attraction. He notices the old man from yesterday shove himself from between the crowd and approach him.

"The hell is all this, you little shit?!"

"Nice to see you too, Gramps."

"Shuddup. Answer me, boy! Are you some kind of Shinigami?"

"Uhh, no…? Not yet anyway."

"The hell's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm gonna become one, what else do you think I meant? I'm trying to get into Shinigami Academy. You got any idea where it is?"

Axel pretty much knew where Shinigami Academy was from looking at Bleach for so long. It was in Seireitei, the center of Soul Society, though more specifically it was in the center of the East Branch of Soul Society. Having the general area of where the academy was located was decent, but he figured asking the question to get more details wouldn't hurt.

"If you were any other brat I'd tell you that you're wasting your time, but seeing that you've somehow created a crater the size of a huge pond, I'll give you some details as long as you promise to hightail it outta here once I tell you. This town doesn't need any troublemakers like you, ya hear?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. It's in Seireitei at the very center of this whole place, Soul Society. Right now, like I said yesterday, you're in Inuzuri of the Rukon District. We are located in the south of Rukon District, so head north and you should happen upon it at some point."

Axel nodded his head as he hummed in response to the old man's information, glad he'd questioned the man since he would have probably stumbled around the entire of Soul Society for an unreasonable amount of time if he hadn't.

"Thanks, old man!"

Axel reached out to give the old man a high five, but the man merely stares blankly at Axel before turning on his heels and calling back.

"Yeah, yeah, now hit the road already," the old man mumbled as he disappeared into the forest, likely heading towards his porch to lounge around on it once more. Axel laughs to himself as he squeezes through the crowd and begins to head north.

"Wow, that old guy's even more of an ass than he was in the anime. I'm impressed, really."

Axel heads north for what seems like hours when he feels his stomach began to growl. Axel pulls a face of being miffed and vaguely annoyed as he pulls at his small amount of stomach fat, looking down as he scrutinized his sudden hunger.

"Aw, c'mon! Isn't one of the benefits of being a Soul not being hungry? What gives?"

Axel sighs to himself as he pushes on towards the north while ignoring his hunger pains, his mind mostly occupied with being able to get into Shinigami Academy and get stronger. He eventually walks into another village, though this one was clearly a lot better than Inuzuri. Axel is quickly greeted by a wonderful smell in the air and he can't help but salivate, his stomach hungrily calling out for some food. He rushed to find where the smell was coming from and found a small stand selling what looked like yakisoba.

"Welcome, sir!"

The shop owner looked at Axel brightly, smiling as she continued to toss the yakisoba she was cooking with some very fragrant spices and seasonings.

"Looking to try some food? This food in particular is a rarity celebrated here in Manpuku and I highly recommend it!"

Axel nodded his head furiously as he approached the stand, his eyes ravenous as he looked at the food in glee.

"Definitely!"

"Alright, that'll be 1500 Kan for one bowl of Yakisoba!"

The shopkeeper held her hand out, waiting for Axel to place something in her hand.

"...Kan?"

"Yes, sir!"

"The hell is that?"

Axel watched as the shop keeper's expression shifted from welcoming and kind to vaguely disgusted and bored. The sudden shift in her attitude startled Axel and he vaguely felt that Kan was probably the currency here. He'd forgotten things cost money, even in death.

"Ah, you're one of those? Listen, I don't have time for entertaining you scammers, so I'd appreciate it if you'd get lost," the shopkeeper says, moving her hands in a shooting motion as she looks at Axel with disinterest.

"Scammer?! Excuse me, miss, I am many things, but a scammer is not one of them," Axel said as he looked at the girl in mock offense, not particularly shocked he was under the impression he was trying to scam her out of her well-deserved money for some of the best yakisoba he'd ever seen.

"Yeah, yeah, now move, you're in the way of paying customers seeing my stand," mutters the girl as she goes back to cooking more yakisoba.

"Okay, look. Why don't we make a deal? I give you something, servitude, an IOU, anything. Please, I haven't eaten in days and I am starving," Axel pleads, his eyes resembling that of a puppy dog. The girl cocked her eyebrow at the word starving and looked at Axel with some newfound interest.  
"Starving? You're actually hungry?"

"Yes. I can feel my stomach beginning to consume itself," Axel says dramatically.

"Hmm, I've only ever heard of this happening to Shinigami and you certainly don't look like one," the girl mutters.

"Bitch," Axel whispers.

"What was that? I could shove this spatula down your throat if you're that starving," the girl says, a sickly sweet smile on her face as she spoke.

"Hmm, honestly at this point I'm tempted to accept," Axel says, his expression rather blank for someone who'd just suggested they'd eat a spatula. The girl sighs to herself as she rolls her eyes and gets a bowl from beneath her counter and places some yakisoba in it.

"Smartass. Stop talking and eat already so I don't have to look at you anymore."

"Wait, really? Food for free? I'm shocked at your generosity," Axel mutters in surprise, shocked at the sudden change of heart.

"Well, I still don't exactly see you as the Shinigami type, but you did strike me as a bit off when I first met you, something about you is clearly different. And, as much as I like money, I'm not the type to leave someone who's in need of something high and dry, so I'll feed you just this once. Only this once, got it?! If you come back, you better have money, alright?"

Axel furiously nods his head as he digs into his meal with gusto. He hums in surprise as he tastes the yakisoba and realizes it's just as good as it looks. He finishes in mere minutes and lets out a satisfied sigh as he leaned back in his chair.

"You really must have been starving, I've never seen anyone eat like that before," the girl mutters in awe, shocked she'd seen the man turn into something resembling a ravenous animal over some food.

"Hm, I think that's the most subtle way someone's ever told me I eat like a savage. Anyway, I told you and I certainly wouldn't lie about something like that," Axel comments as he gets out of his stool and pushes it back into the stand.

"Before I go, any idea where Shinigami Academy is?"

"You're pretty close, maybe another hour or so towards the north and you should be there," the girl answers.

Axel thanks her before he heads on his way towards the academy, feeling a pit in his stomach due to his excitement at being able to finally make it to Shinigami Academy. After what feels like the longest hour in his life, Axel happens upon one of the gates of Seireitei.

'Hmm, judging from the looks of the gigantic man standing in front of the gate, I'd guess he's Danzōmaru and this is the Black Ridge Gate.'

Axel approaches the giant and stops in front of him as the man looks down at him.

"State your name and purpose," bellows the giant.

"Uh...I'm Axel and I think I'm from Inuzuri and I'm here to try and apply for Shindō Academy," Axel says, his throat feeling a bit dry. His usually joking nature had all but disappeared, he was way too intimidated by this man the literal size of a building to be able to crack jokes. The giant hummed in a deep voice that shook the ground a bit as he turned around to open the gates. Axel was rather surprised at the man's lack of resistance towards Axel's slightly suspicious sounding answer to the giant's question, but he figured questioning the apparently understanding giant was likely not the right move. As the doors creaked open, Axel cleared his throat and headed into the gates, nodding his head in the direction of Danzōmaru before heading inside.

The boy looks around at Seireitei in awe, shocked how much more grand it was. He noticed how everything is far cleaner and even seemed more advanced in the city, he could hardly believe he was in the same world. Axel heads towards Shindō Academy, thankfully basically remembering where the school was due to the anime. He approaches a building seemingly labeled for newbies since it had the words "Entrance Building" on it. Axel headed inside the building and was stopped by a woman who told him he still had a few hours to kill before everyone had gathered for the next entrance exam.

Axel sighs in relief as he realizes he's come at a good time. This way, he'd have a bit more time to prepare mentally and physically. From what he knew about the academy, there was an entrance exam he'd have to do. There was likely to be a physical portion, though he figures he shouldn't be surprised if they having a written testing portion as well. Axel waits in the halls as he mentally goes over as much Bleach knowledge he could possibly think of feeling as if he was back in high school cramming the night before a test. He snaps out of his thoughts as more people begin to gather in the building, signaling that the test was likely about to start. Axel follows the crowd as they're guided into a room set up similarly to the average lecture room for classes, though far larger due to the sheer amount of people here to take the test. Axel quickly took his seat and waited as the tests were distributed. When a test paper is placed down in front of him, he quickly flips it over and heaves a sigh of relief as he realizes the questions are largely about basic laws, the way of the Shinigami, Reiatsu, Reiryoku, and Kidō. He quickly finishes the test with confidence, content with himself after the test is over.

The tests are quickly taken away and within about half an hour the test practitioner returns to give out the tests and their results. Once he gets his scores back, Axel quickly looks over his paper and smiles to himself, glad he'd gotten an almost perfect score; a 95.

Those who scored below 50 are escorted out and the rest of the class is taken outside to have a physical test. Basics are tested first to see the physical prowess, endurance, speed, and overall physical ability of the applicants. After running, jumping, punching and kicking targets, Axel has finally managed to get to the last stage to test his Reiatsu.

"Reiatsu, otherwise known as your spiritual pressure, is essential for those looking to become students of this academy. I want all of you to focus on the energy inside yourselves and call it out so I and my colleagues can see what you're capable of," says one of the practitioners. The other practitioners merely nod in agreement or don't show much of an indication of caring about what he'd said.

'Lively bunch, ain't ya?'

One by one, students are called to demonstrate their Reiatsu and when it's finally Axel's turn his nerves are nearly shot. All the waiting had gotten him worked up and he was curious to see what the practitioners would think of his Reiatsu.

Axel inhaled and exhaled deeply before getting into a relaxed stance and letting his energy flow through him. He calls it to the front of his very being so that it may coat his body like a second skin and serve to show what he was capable of. Once Axel opened his eyes he was startled by the complete look of utter shock that the practitioners were giving him. Axel looked down and realized he could now feel how absolutely overwhelming his powers felt and apparently he hadn't been paying much attention to his weird-ass Reiatsu's colors the day before since he was shocked at the swirls of color surrounding him.

Red. Blue. Green. White.

The colors encircling his body were numerous and Axel felt power surge within him as the others looked at him in awe. The test practitioners snap out of their daze and utter that he's passed, still staring at him with wide eyes. Axel is elated at the news and lets out a cheer of joy before he can stop himself.

"HELL YEAH!"

The other testees and the practitioners were only more bewildered by Axel's behavior now staring even harder at the boy, though this time Axel could tell they were likely thinking he was a little dumb or at least far too excited. Axel cleared his throat in embarrassment before mumbling a thank you and standing to the side while the exam finished. After everyone had displayed their Reiatsu and either been accepted or rejected, those who were rejected after being encouraged to try harder next time and those who passed were now gathering in front of the practitioners. Their entrance exam is to be tomorrow and they are told to not be late. They are congratulated on their success and dismissed for the day.

Axel wanders the city of Seireitei afterward for the rest of the day, mostly just in shock that he'd managed to pass the exam. Once night falls, Axel decides to rest in a tree for the night seeing as how he didn't really have anywhere else to sleep. He fades into unconsciousness and dreams about all he's going to do now that he's finally made it into the academy.

The next day Axel arrives early for the student orientation, though he doesn't pay much attention. He can essentially remember the beliefs and principles of the Shinigami from the anime and manga, so he didn't feel much need to actually listen. The presenters go over what students are expected to learn including, but not limited to general education requirements of the average school, how to control and make use of their Reiatsu, how to control the four major Shinigami combat forms (Hakuda, Hohō, Kidō, and Zanjutsu), how to perform Soul Burials, how to communicate with the spirit of their Zanpakutō, and they are also prepared for the general duties of a Shinigami.

The presenter encourages the up-and-coming Shinigami to learn to protect those who they hold dear and not pursue this position merely for power or selfish reasons. The event closes after the presenter leaves the students with a closing message.

"Do not seek beauty in battle. Do not seek virtue in death. Do not make the mistake of considering only your own life. If you wish to protect that which you must protect, slice the enemy you must defeat from behind."

The students slowly trickle out of the room as they are dismissed, Axel following the general direction of the crowd. As Axel's eyes wander the crowd, he's breath halts in his throat as he notices a familiar face amongst the crowd of students. Walking nonchalantly with a rather blank expression on his face is a young Gin Ichimaru. Axel swallows hard as he realizes he's now seeing the real deal for the first time. Part of him couldn't help but think of all the horrible shit the young boy would eventually come to do and another part of him mourned his almost anti-hero tragic death.

'It's really weird to just see a person and just...know what's gonna happen.'

Axel shook himself out of his thoughts before heading to his designated dormitory. Luckily, he'd managed to get a room by himself. While loved being a smartass and playing pranks on people, Axel most certainly enjoys being in his own company a decent amount of the time. As Axel heads into his room and plops onto his bed with a sigh, his mind can't help but wonder about the events he's likely going to be right in the middle of.

'So, if young Gin is here it is definitely 111 years prior to the main storyline. Not gonna lie, being alive for 111 years is gonna be a hell of a ride, but I guess it'll be neat to experience. Anyway, so with young Gin being here that means the Visored experiments haven't taken place yet so Aizen hasn't really kicked his evil ass plan into full gear yet. This also means Urahara is still here and will become the Twelfth Division Captain in about a year's time.'

Axel gets up to turn off his lights so he can just go to sleep already, his mind exhausted from having to think so much about Bleach's timeline in one sitting.

"I've basically landed smack dab in the middle of a shitstorm," Axel mutters to himself as he gets into his covers and lays on his side, "but somehow I actually feel excited about all this. Aside from having a bit of an identity crisis since I can't remember much about myself, this whole thing is looking like it's gonna be pretty interesting."

Axel closes his eyes once more, his mind consumed with thoughts of how he was going to fit into the story of Bleach.

The next morning, the sun is peering through the windows of his room and Axel grunts as he shifts in bed, grumbling to himself as he wakes up to get ready for his first day at the academy. Axel hobbles out of bed before putting on the uniform that had been left in his closet. Instead of his usual black cloak, black jeans, and black army boots, the boy was now wearing a blue shitagi, a white kosode with blue stripes, blue hakama(trousers), white socks, and sandals. Really, he was now basically wearing the more school appropriate version of what Shinigami's typically wore.

Axel ran his fingers through his spiked red hair as he yawned and headed out of his room, ready for his first day as a student. Once he arrived in class, he was actually surprised how normal the first couple of classes were. For his first class, he learned some math, then his second focused mostly on history. He was now heading into his more physical classes of the day, the class where he'd finally be given his Asauchi, the sword that would one day become his Zanpakutō.

As Axel heads into the yard designated to be he and his classmate's place to train for the day, he admired how a lot of the buildings resembled dojos. He stopped his admiration for the architecture once his teacher arrived and began informing the students of their responsibilities as students of the academy. Once he was finished with his speech, he called up each student and handed them their Asauchi. After he was done handing them out, he looked on at every student as he began to speak.

"Keep that sword with you day and night, awake or asleep that will be your best friend for the next 6 years, or however many years you spend, here at the academy," said the man.

Axel and his classmates nodded in response to their teacher's words, though Axel internally gripped his sword with a bit of disappointment. He knew an unactivated sword wouldn't be comparable to an activated Zanpakutō, but to have them be so… boring in comparison to the swords he was used to seeing on Bleach was a bit disheartening.

"Today we will be beginning with Kidō training. Your Zanpakutō will typically need to imprint upon you for upwards of one year, so until then training with it will not be a main focus. Now, get into groups and I will teach you some things about Kidō."

After the teacher began talking about Kidō, Axel zones out once more since he's already familiar with the concept. Once the teacher finishes explaining the ins and outs of Kidō, the students gather and begin to show their Reiatsu once more. Axel feels a bit prideful and yet uncomfortable showing his since everyone always looks at him with shock. The teacher instructs the students on how to do Shakkahō by introducing them to the incantation and explaining how to do it.

"You must channel your energy and let your mind be at rest with your body. If you cannot feel your Reiryoku flow through your body then your Reiatsu will be stunted and your Kidō either won't work or will be weak. Submit yourself to your energy and you will succeed."

Axel already being familiar with that tunes the teacher out again, though this time the teacher catches on to his shenanigans and decides to call him out.

"Am I boring you, boy?"

Axel jolts as he realizes his lack of an attention span has been noticed and now he's probably gonna get publicly shamed for it. He figures resigning himself to his fate would be best, but he just can't resist the urge to run his mouth.  
"Weelllll…."

Shit. Axel managed to respond in the most sarcastic and disrespectful manner possible and on his first day no less. He feels himself break out into a cold sweat as the teacher narrows his eyes at him and he swallows hard as he prepares to get roasted.

"Well, what? You think this is a game, boy? Being enrolled in this academy is the highest of honors and is not something to be played with. Tell me, are you even aware of Kidō and its functions? Can you even perform the Shakkahō without hesitation?"

'Yes, I can. Probably shouldn't say that though.'

"If you are so sure of yourself, then demonstrate it to the class."

'Jesus Christ, so he's one of those teachers?'

"Go on now, don't be shy. You were so confident earlier, so I don't see why you won't back it up. Is it because maybe you're just an ignorant child who has overestimated his abilities due to his own raw power? Power without control is meaningless, you got that?"

At this point, Axel wasn't really sure what his teacher was even talking about. The man was now going on some tangent about Axel being sheltered and ignorant or whatever, but he could care less about the speech the teacher was so intent on giving him. Even though it kind of feels like an edgy and kind of obnoxious thing to do, Axel decides to show his teacher how much he really knew about Kidō. He steps up and stands in front of a strawman target, his classmates watching with varying degrees of interest and his teacher standing with his arms crossed, face pulled into a scowl.

Axel closes his eyes and focuses on his Reiryoku, channeling it throughout his body as he calls upon his energy to manifest as Reiatsu. He opens his eyes wide as he feels a surge of energy within him and he concentrates on that feeling to bring forth his attack.

"Ye lord! Mask of blood and flesh, all creation, flutter of wings, ye who bears the name of Man! Inferno and pandemonium, the sea barrier surges, march on to the south!"

The ball of fire is even bigger than it was the last time he did the spell and he feels his hand almost begin to shake as hellfire is shot from his hand, consuming all of the strawman targets in front of him. The class is quiet as they register what Axel did and the teacher's arms have dropped to his side as he stares flabbergasted at the destruction Axel had left behind.

Axel shifts awkwardly in place as he heads back into the formation his classmates are standing in, he positioned in the middle row to the far left. He feels all eyes on him as the teacher clears his throat and moves on from his reprimand of Axel, too ashamed and astonished to even continue his lecture with the prodigy of a student. Axel felt rather smug about the whole thing once everyone stopped staring at him and he felt giddy as class ended and he left without any further trouble.

As Axel whistles nonchalantly as he roamed the halls of the academy, he felt his blood run cold when he ran into another familiar face, though this one didn't really have any redeeming qualities.

"Aizen," Axel hisses quietly, his distaste for the man overcoming his senses to be quiet and not mention the name of a character who hasn't been formally introduced to him yet.

"Hm? I don't think we've met before," says the brown-haired bastard.

"We haven't," Axel replies coldly. He swears he saw Aizen's face twitch for a mere moment before his friendly facade was up once more.

"Well, I suppose you're a new student then. Welcome to the academy and congratulations on getting in!"

"Thanks." Axel could hardly look the man in the eyes after knowing what he'd done and was doing for just downright foolish and wicked reasons. Aizen chuckles as he notes the boy's unwillingness to talk.

"Well, I can see you're not in the mood to chat and I've got a bit on my place, so I'll be going now. Until we meet again," Aizen says as he brushes past Axel. Axel grunts in response to Aizen's foreboding mention of when they'd meet again and he shivers as he swears he feels a harsh stare directed at his back, but when he looks behind him Aizen is gone. Axel smacked his lips as he felt a bitter taste in his mouth from the interaction with Aizen and decided he needed some fresh air. He left the academy grounds and wandered around Seireitei before he came upon a small and peaceful little lake.

He sat on a rock as he looked at the water in a daze, still reeling from his interaction with one of the main villains of a series he'd read all his life. Axel grips his sword as he calms himself down and decides getting worked up would only make matters worse since when it came to Aizen being too into your own feelings and heart would likely get you manipulated or killed.

Axel looks around to see if there was anyone looking and he decides to try and train with his soon-to-be Zanpakutō. He takes off his socks and sandals and wades into the water, letting his feet feel the swishing of the water and the movement of the fish. He closes his eyes and grips his sheathed sword to his chest, concentrating on feeling its energy and imprinting his own upon it. Axel is shocked as he feels a pulsating sensation spread all over his body, causing him to almost lose balance in the lake. The pulsating feeling is gone before he can even register what is happening. He curses under his breath as he positions himself in the river again, but this time he sits in the lake to be able to fully feel the flow of the water. The water is shallow enough that he's legs are still halfway above it and he places his unsheathed sword across his lap as he tries once more to feel the flow of his own energy, the world's energy, and the energy of his Zanpakutō. He feels his heart get louder in his chest and his vision becomes vivid as he tries to feel his sword. He closes his eyes to concentrate and his body reaches a crescendo as his heart thunders and his blood pumps loudly and quickly through his veins, but he suddenly feels everything stop as the world gets quiet.

Axel opens his eyes and looks around, the boy notices that the world is filled with fog and it's rather hard for him to see. He remains seated as he calmly breathes in and out, knowing that his Zanpakutō was there. He could just somehow...feel it. He also felt that his sword was familiar now that he was beginning to enter its world and when his sword's spirit appeared he was left breathless.

"Avatar…! Holy fuck, you're Aang!"


	2. Chapter 2

Axel's mouth hangs open as he blinks once, then twice, then even a third time. He swallows hard as he admires the boy ...well, man. Aang is no longer how he appeared as the little boy was thrown into destiny, but he is now a grown man who looked wise beyond his years. He still has his trademark bald head and blue arrow, but his beard is tinged with gray and white hairs and his prominent eye bags that are clearly results of his time as the Avatar.

What really set him apart from your average wise-looking old man is his gentle, yet playful smile. He walks closer to Axel before sitting down in front of him and gesturing for the boy to do the same. Axel quickly shuffles down onto his knees and faced the man as he looks at the man expectantly, unsure if he's even capable of forming a coherent sentence out of shock.

"So...hi!"

Axel has to hold back a laugh in response to the man's rather non-wise sounding response and he feels himself relax as he remembers the goofy kid Aang used to be. Obviously, not all of that child-like goofiness had disappeared, no, it's just now paired with wiseness beyond Axel's wildest dreams.

"Hi," Axel says as he observes his surroundings. The Spirit World, or whenever he seems to be, is filled with fog and trees. It looked a bit swampy, but it smelled like a fresh forest after a light downpour. Everything about the place is peaceful and perfectly reflect what he thought Aang's realm would be like.

"So, from my understanding, you're a Shinigami, right?"

"Yeah, that about sums it up."

"Hmm," Aang says as he strokes his chin and hums in thought, "I've heard of you before. I don't interact with many spirits here, but I've heard enough to get the general gist of what you're here for. I'm the spirit destined for your blade, right?"

"Well, yes. So it would seem anyway."

"Cool! Well, as it seems you already knew, I'm Aang. I was formerly the Avatar of my realm and use all the elements to save the world, you know, all that chosen one stuff."

"Ah, yes. All that chosen one stuff, how relatable," Axel quips sarcastically. Aang laughs in response to his sarcasm before replying.

"Well, from the looks of you, you should know exactly what I'm talking about."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your weapon's spirit is going to be the Avatar. Not to brag or anything, but that's pretty overpowered and chosen one-like, if I do say so myself."

Axel rolls his eyes before letting out a groan, wondering if Aang finally became cocky, though he realizes the man is pretty much right. Having the Avatar as your Zanpakutō is almost indisputable proof that you're literally going to be able to open a can of whoop-ass on practically anyone if you trained well enough to be able to wield such immense power.

"Yeah, okay, whatever. You're sounding pretty cocky here, Avatar."

"Maybe so, but do you know anyone else who can do THIS?"

Aang quickly whips his hands to the side, his face pulled taut and serious, concentration clear by the arch of his brow. Axel feels his breath hitch in his throat as he watches Aang in wonder, curious on what possible power the man is going to show him. He nearly feels himself facepalm as Aang merely makes tiny airballs spin within his palm. He looks towards Axel with an "Eh? Eh? Aren't you impressed?" expression and Axel can't help but burst out into laughter. He whips his eyes as tears threatened to roll down his cheeks, his chest hurting as he's fairly sure he's just cracked a rib from how hard he laughed.

"Okay, fair point, that is clearly some powerful bending. But besides that, I don't think I'm the chosen one or anything like that. I'm just lucky."

Aang cocks his eyebrow as he stares long and hard at the boy, his expression actually becoming serious this time. He sighs as he looks over the boy, his expression slightly disappointed.

"Seeing as how you knew my name and all, I'd figured you'd know it's not going to be this easy to pull the wool over my eyes. While I haven't been around a Shinigami before, I am positively certain there is something different about you and if you would like to build trust with me as your weapon's spirit and partner, then I suggest you stop trying to hide things from me. You're not very good at it anyway seeing as how your revealed you knew my name without me even saying anything."

Axel's eyebrows raise in shock. While he realized that Aang is likely far smarter than him, he didn't expect to get called out on his bullshit so soon. He sighs as he realizes that was a rather dumb thought to think he could outsmart the literal savior of the world and he decides it is definitely in his best interest to just spill everything.

"Okay, okay, sorry. No more secrets between us, buddy ol' pal."

Aang stares at Axel without replying and the boy delves into his explanation as best as he can.

"Well, for starters, I'm not from here. By here I mean your world, the world of the Shinigami, or really anything related to these two universes. If I have to explain it without sounding completely crazy, I'm from outside of these universes, no parallels or anything like that, just something entirely different. Where I'm from you… You're the main character of a show; a cartoon. Same goes for the Shinigami world. When I was younger, I'd watch you and your band of friends go out on adventures, travel the world, learn together, love together, do everything basically. Some things were likely excluded from the show, but I essentially have seen a rundown of your time as the Avatar."

Axel looks at the man expecting...something. Anything other than what he's receiving which is basically just a blank look and a nod. Axel tilts his head in confusion and furrows his brow as he just can't seem to figure out how Aang just doesn't really care that the entirety of the time he spent alive was essentially fake and made for people's enjoyment.

"How're you so...calm?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because...nevermind."

"You think I should be bothered my life was essentially seen by millions and I was made for the purpose of others? That I'm fake?"

"Well, if I'm being completely honest, yes. I just don't understand how you're not angry or calling me insane in denial or something."

"In your realm, maybe I was just made for entertainment and I am fake. But here, that is obviously not true. I am here and, well, not really living but I am present and aware. I could be angry that my life is nothing but a facade for some mere entertainment, but the truth of the matter is, that will never be the truth for me. Even if it is true that I was made by someone else for others, honestly, the same can be said for practically all of life, that is how the world works. I am no more fake than you or anyone else is, seeing as how I have lived my life and here I am still, proof that my life was real."

"...Wow."

Axel is in awe as he realizes Aang is essentially right. He can't believe he'd been so naive and honestly so full of himself. He's been unconsciously acting as if he has some sort of superiority over these people, looking at them as mere characters from a story when they were now real. Not characters, not fake, not figments of imagination, here and right with him.

"I'm sorry, that was foolish of me," Axel says as he bows his head.

"Raise your head, no need for all of the formalities and all that, it's way too stuffy. Besides, as long as you are willing to accept your mistakes and learn from them, then I have no problems with you. Ignorance isn't not knowing anything, but refusing to know anything more than what you do know, understand?"

"Yes!"

Axel sighs in relief and smiles to himself as he realizes having such a wise and friendly spirit as his partner in crime is likely going to make for quite the enlightening experience. His positive thoughts are quickly interrupted when he is blown back, his back slamming into a tree as the wind is knocked out of him. He notices that it doesn't quite hurt, but it's still not very pleasant to be sitting down in one moment and then slumped against a tree in the next.

"The fuck?"

"Now, now, no need for the language, I'm just doing as I've learned. Though I don't particularly like fighting myself, especially unnecessary or cruel fighting, I'm relieved to know this won't actually hurt you and will instead be a learning experience."

Before Axel can get another word in, air has swept him off his feet and slammed him into a few branches above him. He drops to the floor with a thud and his mind reels as all he can do is stare at the dirt in confusion. He gets up and tries to rush towards Aang, though he is quickly blown back and slams into the familiar tree trunk once more.

Axel growls under his breath as he grabs two fallen branches and rushes towards Aang once more, though this time when the monk tries to blow him away he quickly digs into the ground with his newfound assistant. As the wind gets stronger he digs each branch further into the ground to hold his place. When he feels the wind let up for a moment he moves one of his branches closer and shoves it into the ground, repeating the movement as he gets closer and closer to the Avatar.

"That's quite the idea you've got there," Aang chimes in.

Axel is about to reply when he is splashed in the face with water, his palms becoming slippery and his hold on the branches becoming looser and looser until he can no longer hold on and is blown back into the damned tree trunk. He lets out a loud groan, disappointed his plan hadn't worked.

"This sucks ASS."

"That's certainly one way to put it, my dear pupil."

"Cut the pupil shit out, the name's Axel."

"Whatever you say, Axel."

Axel huffs as he feels his mind run wild with thoughts and ideas on how he could possibly beat Aang. He knew using and Kidō or anything like that would likely be useless against him and fighting him hand to hand was out of the question since he couldn't even get close.

After everything he'd seen in his childhood on how Aang had lost and risen up again, surely he must be able to think of some ways on how to beat the man...right?

Or...no?

As Aang raises his hand to create another gust of wind with his airbending, Axle drops to his hands and knees, bowing as he paid his respects to the monk.

"I'm sorry, even with what you just told me...I couldn't see it, or rather, I didn't want to. I can't win this fight. I'm searching for ways on how to beat you in my head, using moments from your show and even from moments I remember from fights that took place in the other world, but it's useless. This is different, it isn't a show and I need to realize that I'm going to have to rely on a lot more than just what I know to get by and right now I'm just not prepared to fight you."

Everything is silent save for the thumping of Axel's heart, the furious pounding echoing against his eardrums as he waited for Aang to speak. As the silence persisted, he manages to gather the strength to look up and is relieved when he finds Aang smiling down at him.

"That is what I wanted to hear," Aang says as he motions for Axel to sit up and face him once more.

"What do you mean? I literally just gave up, how is that a good thing?"

"The resigning isn't necessarily what I'm focused on, it's your understanding. You must understand that while you knew this world and the other world, you only really had a chance to see it on a surface level. There is now a whole world and likely whole new rules to be explored now that you are fully within these worlds. While your knowledge can serve as your greatest strength, it also serves as your greatest weakness. Underestimating your opponents or overestimating yourself due to prior knowledge is likely to get you killed. You must use your knowledge to understanding the world around you, not merely accept the knowledge as the sole truth and move on. You showing me you understand that now is all the proof I need to know that you are worthy," Aang says as he stands up to walk towards Axel, getting down to his eye level and pressing his thumb against Axel's forehead.

Axel feels a light overtake his vision as his head was sent reeling. He feels memories flash through his mind and a feeling of power surge within him, his veins pulsating as his hands twitched. He felt a warm feeling spread throughout his body and his heart beat faster as he could just feel himself begin to unlock potential he didn't even know he had. Just as quickly as the near overwhelming sensation came, it was over as Aang stepped away from Axel.

"That was...something else."

"You should now be able to tap into our powers, of course, more training will be needed to use it to its full capacity. Once you call for me, you will be able to use the first stages of our unlocked potential."

"I honestly have to wonder how all of this is even possible. It was explained that for the most part only using one element or at the very least similar elements were allowed, yet now I can use as many as the Avatar?"

"As I said earlier, do not let yourself be confined by the means of the show. Besides, weren't there ever any exceptions to rules?"

"Well," Axel mumbled as he ponders a bit before arriving at his answer," the Ise clan was a bit of an exception to typical Shinigami rules since they didn't get unique spirits for their Zanpakutō and instead passed down their weapon."

"See? While it's not directly related to what you said, it shows there is always space for a bit of difference. Besides, this Shinigami world certainly never knew of a character from an outside realm falling into it and being aware of a decent chunk of its ins and outs, so of course, you're going to be more prepared for a bit of rule-bending that could lead to quite a bit of power."

"I suppose you're right, Aang." Axel mutters.

"Of course," Aang teases.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Is there anything else we need to discuss?"

"One last thing before you go," Aang said as he leveled his eyes with Axel as his voice became serious, "do not use my powers for evil. Do not fight unless necessary and if I find you are being cruel with the use of my abilities, I will take you out myself. Understand?"

Axel shivers as he notices the seriousness and slight coldness on Aang's expression, but he quickly wipes away the slight twinge of fear as he nods his head firmly and replies.

"You have my word, Aang."

"Good," Aang says as he drops his serious expression for his more usual and lighthearted one," that should be all. Remember, make sure to come back for training or just to talk, since we've got a lot to cover, alright?"

"Definitely."

As soon as the word left his mouth, he opens his eyes to see that he is no longer in the Spirit World. Axel rubs his face as he adjusts to the different setting and realizes he is still in the lake that'd he'd waded into much earlier, though he realized a lot of time likely hadn't even passed since then, though it felt like it had gone on forever. Learning so much from Aang and even battling him was certainly something Axel swears he could never forget. He got up from his sitting position and sighed as he felt water drip down his thighs and back into the water source.

"Why the hell did I sit in a lake again? Now I've probably got a koi fish in my ass or something," Axel mutters as he steps out of the lake, his feet making sloshing noises as he headed back for his dorm for the night.

The next morning Axel awakes to the sun peeking through his window and he yawns as he gets up to ready himself for the day's events. After he heads to class he once again finds himself not paying much attention to the general education classes, his mind mostly wandering back to the conversation he'd had with Aang. He had now unlocked his abilities and likely the strength to be able to use his Shikai, but he figured using it right now and so soon would likely only draw unwanted attention his way and he figures saving it for later was in his best interest.

Aang had told him that him being from an alternate universe likely enabled him to bypass some of the rules Bleach had set for itself and his knowledge certainly helped serve as a backbone for being able to do so much with his newfound power, but he realized that is powers would likely only go so far.

'I can probably use all elements and all, but it sure as hell won't be an easy switch. I haven't activated my power yet since there really is no need and I don't feel like having dumbass Shinigami officials hound me all the time, but I figure I'll be able to use powers that are similar to each other in a shorter span of time, but trying to switch between fire and water is probably gonna be a pain in the ass. Ice and water, fire and lightning, or earth and metals are the pairs I've got and will likely have to cycle with. Honestly, trying to use more than one pair during a battle unless absolutely necessary will probably be very strenuous on my body. As for energy bending and making a shield or anything like that...I honestly have no idea. Man, it would be cool as fuck if I could like heal myself with energy bending or something, but that's gonna have to come way after I learn how to even completely master my Shikai.'

After he finishes his thought, he notices general education classes are over for the day and that the next course is Hakuda.

From what he can recall, Hakuda is a hand-to-hand combat skill that Shinigami are required to learn as part of their curriculum. He feels a bit of interest stir inside of him at the thought of maybe being able to spar with someone. So far he'd mostly tested his Reiryoku and protection-type abilities, so now he was a bit curious on how he could hone his physical skills. He heads towards the dojo designated for Hakuda training and waits patiently with his classmates for his teacher to arrive. Unlike other classes that weren't quite as packed, the dojo was filled with a decent number of people so this time Axel couldn't quite see everyone he'd be working with, but he didn't much care anyway, he just wanted to spar. He sighs in relief as the teacher of the course finally arrives and apologizes for his lateness before delving into the lesson for the day.

"Hakuda, a skill required to learn for all of you students, is a demonstration of your physical ability and aptitude for a multitude of different types of martial arts. Today, I will demonstrate the basics of the attacks and you will spar with your partners. I'll walk around and judge your technique, giving you any advice I can."

As the teacher finished, Axel kind of listened as he ran through some of the basics of Hakuda, showing them how to block, throw, and quickly strike opponents. Axel nods as he watches the interesting display, the movements mostly catching his attention and the teacher's words of advice falling by the wayside. He paid close attention to the swiftness, careful precision, and power behind each of the teacher's moves and he couldn't wait to replicate and improve upon the moves for himself against his partner. All in good fun, of course, he didn't want to hurt anyone.

"Now that I've explained the basics, I will pick your partners. Inou Yamazaki with Kouichi Shifumi, Aimi Tagami and Kouyuu Miwa, Souya Okuno and Chihaya Yamanaka, Sachio Nishikawa and Rie Hiramatsu…"

Axel tunes out the rest of the names until he hears his and he nearly feels his eyes bulge out of his skull as he realizes who his partner is going to be.

"Finally, Axel and Gin Ichimaru. You may now all disperse as you please and duel, I will come around to check on you all. "

'I'm gonna fight...Gin? Are you fucking kidding me? I wanted to practice my moves and all, but know this kid is probably gonna embarrass me by beating my ass in public.'

Axel sighs before approaching Gin who is essentially hidden all the way in the corner of the room. The kid's face is blank as he nods towards Axel silently and gets into a stance. Axel feels his blood run a bit cold as he observes Gin's complete nonchalance and indifference and how creepy as fuck this child was. His yes being permanently closed for God knows why and his expression not holding anything expect either a completely blank look or an eccentric smile that probably meant bad news was not normal nor comforting in the slightest.

Axel also gets into a fighting position, his legs spread wide as he lowers himself to the ground and prepares himself to fight young Gin.

Before Axel can mope anymore in his head about how troublesome fighting Gin is going to be, the silver-haired boy lunges toward him with a speed completely inhuman. Axel manages to block at the last second and he thrusts his arms out to force the boy away from his body.

Gin skids back, a faint look of shock on his face before he rushes towards Axel once more, this time ducking underneath his legs and spun on his heel to kick Axel hard in the back. Axel coughs as spit flies from his mouth and he feels his spine ache, but he refuses to fall. He turns before Gin can put his leg down and grabs it, tightly clenching Gin's ankle and throwing him, the boy hitting the wall. He clicks his tongue under his breath before standing up and circling Axel, the redhead following every move of Gin with his eyes.

Gin lunges towards Axel to throw a flurry of punches, Axel meeting him blow for blow as he can feel his muscles begin to ache as he puts everything he has into the fight against the young man. They both go until they're sweating, exhausted and they only stop once they notice the whole class, including the teacher, is looking at them in complete shock. Their fight had been so intense the class couldn't help but begin watching them. Axel coughed awkwardly before averting his eyes from the piercing gazes of his classmates, not really sure how to react. On one hand, he felt kind of smug, but on the other hand, his classmates staring at him all the time was starting to get a bit weird.

"Well, uhm, I've practically gone around to everyone at this point and given them any advice if I can. If I didn't get to you, then I either will next class...or it was very clear you already have a solid grasp of Hakudo basics."

The teacher dismisses class and the students slowly shuffle out, though Axel can feel eyes on his back and it doesn't take much for him to figure that its Gin. He'd likely caught the attention of the prodigy for even being able to stand a chance against him. Axel found the attention interesting, but conflicting.

On the one hand, even though Gin turns out to not be a traitorous dickhead in the end and that he actually really only worked for Aizen out of love for Rangiku, Axel knew getting involved with him would probably result in some trouble. One the other hand, he was vaguely interested in maybe getting to know Gin and trying to prevent him from going down the wrong path, knowing full well he may possibly be able to prevent Gin's death. One the other hand, Axel knew trying to avoid Gin and his attention from now on was likely for the best. Trouble basically surrounded Gin wherever he went and Axel knew that changing anything in the Bleach-verse could very well lead to some disastrous end, _especially _changing who Aizen's right-hand man was. He hopes that maybe he could do something later, but now just wasn't the right time.

As Axel walks out of the dojo, he can't help but sigh in relief as he realizes Gin's gaze is no longer on his back and that the boy has likely lost most of his interest for now. Axel continues out of the dojo and heads towards his dorm when he sees Urahara walking on the campus.

'Wow, he really does look younger and a lot less of the eccentric, kind of douchey shop owner he's gonna turn out to be one day.'

As Urahara notices Axel's gaze, he nods awkwardly before scurrying away. Axel is momentarily perplexed before remembering that Urahara was a bit more reserved in his past. Though not much had happened, he doesn't forget the interaction even once he makes it back to his dorm. He flops onto his bed and stares at the ceiling as he contemplates what his next move should be.

'I know that at some point I'm probably going to want to end up on Earth, but first, I really need to come up with a plan on how I'm supposed to even get there. I could go Rukia's route, but then it's highly likely I would just be arrested, unfairly tried in the court of law and put to death. Really, the only reason she escaped her fate was her connections, but me? I don't know anyone in the world.'

Axel pulls at his hair as he tries to conjure up some possible ideas on how he was going to end up on Earth somehow. Call him nosey, but he wanted to see into the main story at least a little bit and maybe even have a hand in some of what happens himself, since he'd essentially been given a once in a lifetime chance to see people he'd come to appreciate ever since his childhood and he could change their lives. Hopefully for the better, unless they got tired of his snarky ass.

'Okay, so Rukia's route is out, so what's left?'

The boy ponders the question in his mind for a bit before he lets out an "AHA!" in realization. He was glad he didn't have a roommate seeing as how they'd probably think he was insane or a bit of a dumbass if they heard him have outbursts all the time.

'So, the only other way I think I can think of to eventually get out of this stifling hellhole and still get some of that sweet, sweet main character action is to join the 12th Division! Around this time, Urahara is appointed as the leader, so I don't see why I can't try and worm my way into their ranks too. I just need to train and develop connections, then when the Visored incident happens and the 12th Division is essentially banished from this world I can then follow them! It's a genius plan! Sort of anyway, considering I'm definitely putting myself into a bunch of danger being in a group where Aizen essentially targets them, but I'll just have to stay on my guard. '

Axel sits up from his bed and looks at his sword, remembering that Aang told him to be aware of the world around him while keeping his knowledge as more of a side help than the main help.

"So, with my knowledge and training I'll do with you, there's no way this plan can fail, right? I'll have to get close to Urahara and the 12th Division, but that's nothing I can't handle and I'll have my one-way ticket to Ichigo and the rest. All I have to do is train hard and make sure to be open to the information the world gives me and I'll be prepared for anything."

Axel resolves to head back to that lake from before and talk with Aang some more since now he was sure he'd have to buckle down and not only get closer with Aang to strengthen their bond and power but to Urahara to further his plan. As he heads off of campus, he can't help the cold shiver that suddenly pierces his body and almost keeps him still. His run slows into a walk and he turns to see a brown head of well-groomed hair turn a corner. The feeling in his gut all but confirms who it was.

'Aizen.'

Axel stares where the man had left for a moment before he shakes his head to clear his thoughts and turns on his heel to continue towards his lake. He didn't have time to fool around with Aizen, he had a plan to fulfill.

"As long as I stick to the plan, I won't have to worry about the sick bastard and everything will be fine."

If only the boy knew how wrong he was.

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